One of the most studied movements in all of athletics is the golf swing. In a game of golf, a player uses a series of clubs, traditionally called woods, irons and a putter, to strike a golf ball and to propel it across a golf course from tee to green and into a hole. The series of clubs used have club shafts of different lengths; different sizes of club head and different striking face angles or lofts. Each club is designed to propel a golf ball a different distance. A golfer must select the appropriate club for each shot and then make a repeatable controlled swing to propel the ball the appropriate distance.
There are many subtleties in striking the ball to limit its flight path. Fades, draws, hooks and slices, and high and low shots can be used depending upon the obstacles facing the golfer and the natural conditions such as wind and the like. The flight path is generally controlled by the way the club is held in the hands, traditionally referred to as the grip, by ball position relative to the middle of the stance, and by varying the position of the feet, referred to as open or closed stance. Ball flight for specialty shots can be controlled by body and or arm movement, but for the preferred down the middle of the fairway ball flight, distance is attained by club selection and accuracy by a controlled consistent golf swing. One of the skills required for playing golf therefore is to make substantially the same golf swing each time the ball is struck, and to vary the distance the ball travels by means of the club selection.
The swing itself starts with the address, in which the golfer gripping the club with both hands positions the club head behind the ball in a position in which the club will make good contact with the ball. Then, the first part of the golf swing occurs, which is called the take-away, in which the golfer swings the club back away from the ball to a top position. Then there is a change in direction, initiated by the golfer shifting his weight to the target side and dropping the golf club downwardly into the proper position. The club head arcs through the air and strikes the ball. After impact the club momentum carries the club and the hands through in the direction of the target, in a portion of the swing known as the follow through.
Wikipedia describes the golf swing generally as follows: A full swing is a complex rotation of the body aimed at accelerating the club head to a great speed. For a right handed golfer, at address, the player stands with the left shoulder and hip pointing in the intended direction of ball flight, with the ball before the feet. The club is held with both hands (right below left), the club head resting on the ground behind the ball, hips and knees somewhat flexed, and the arms hanging from the shoulders. The backswing is a rotation to the right, consisting of a shifting of the player's body weight to the right side, a turning of the pelvis and shoulders, lifting of the arms and flexing of the elbows and wrists. At the end of the backswing the hands and arms are above and in front of the right shoulder, with the club, behind and over the shoulders, in a line more or less in the intended direction of ball flight. Not included in the Wikipedia description, but critical to the down swing, is the sequencing of the weight shift from right foot to the left foot, timed with the dropping of the right arm into the correct position or “slot”. The body must turn through out the golf swing to ensure the arms stay in front of the chest in the take-away and follow through.
After the ball is hit, the follow-through stage consists of a continued rotation to the left. At the end of the swing, the weight has shifted almost entirely to the left foot, the body is fully turned to the left and the hands are above, and in front of the left shoulder, with the club hanging down over the players'back.
Wikipedia further states that the full golf swing is an unnatural, highly complex motion and notoriously difficult to learn. It is not uncommon for beginners to spend several months practicing the very basics before playing their first ball on a course. It is usually considered impossible to acquire a stable and successful swing without professional instruction and even highly skilled golfers may continue to take golf lessons for many years.
To assist in learning the complex and difficult action many swing training aid devices have been proposed in the past. They are based on the premise that if the golfer can repeat the preferred swing motion with the help of an aid, off the course, the golfer's muscles, by forced repeating of the correct motion, will achieve a muscle memory of the correct swing. In this way the golfer will be able to replicate the correct swing, on the course, without the swing training aid. Thus, swing training aids are based on the concept of a muscle memory or learned movement.
These devices interact with the golfer's swing in different ways. In one type, a large hoop or circle is provided against which the golfer matches his swing, by running his club along the swing guide hoop. However, such a guide may only guide the swing when the golfer is next to it. Since it only controls the position of the golf club, rather than the body of the user it is indirect at best. Another device, called the inside approach, tries to cause the golfer to have the correct swing path adjacent to the golf ball by placing an element close, but above, the ball under which the club must pass. If the swing is off line, the element is touched or knocked away providing instant feedback to the golfer that the swing was incorrect. However this device does not limit the position of the arms or the correct timing for the opening of the hips and weight transfer during the swing.
Other swing devices are known which involve straps attached to the body. The devices are based on the idea that certain body parts are kept at the same distance from each other during the swing. This assumption is questionable given the complex body movements that occur during the golf swing. Others involve resilient or flexible elements that introduce forces or friction during the swing, leading to the development of out of balance swings in the absence of such resilient or flexible elements. Quite simply, such strap type devices cannot properly direct the body through all of the complex motions required during a golf swing.
As a result, a swing training device that is simple to use and effective has long been sought. Examples of such devices may be found in the following prior patents:                Fixed to Ground                    PCT/US1999/017154                        Guides                    U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,340            U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,800            U.S. Pat. No. 2,773,691            U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,290                        Straps                    DE 10039492            U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,214            US 2002/039930            U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,237            GB 2,201,603            U.S. Pat. No. 6,767,290                        Things That Attach to the Clubs                    PCT/NZ1999/000123            PCT/US1999/008467            PCT/US1998/016755            PCT/US2000/020190            US 2002/097296            U.S. Pat. No. 2,273,336            US 2003/148814            U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,025                        Torso Belts                    U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,239            U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,041            U.S. Pat. No. 5,846,143            U.S. Pat. No. 6,805,640                        
In spite of all of these prior devices there remains a need for a simple to use and effective swing training aid. What is desired is a simple swing training aid that is reliable in establishing a conventional repeatable golf swing so as to be able to train the golfer's muscles to create the desired muscle memory.